Some of our stops are based less on destinations and more on people we want to visit. My friend Laura and her family live in Amman, Jordan, and we’ve always wanted to visit them. We planned to spend six days and were all very excited to see our friends and live in a home again (with toys!). Laura picked us up from the airport and took us back to her house where the kids could get acquainted with hers since they had not seen each other in several years (thanks COVID). It did not take long before all four of them were playing together and destroying Laura’s living room with Lego everywhere.
Laura and her partner were amazing hosts. Although we had not made plans to leave Amman during the six days in Jordan, they were adamant that we could not come to Jordan and not visit two places: Petra and the Wadi Rum. Before we arrived, they had gone ahead and booked hotels and tours in these two locations for a weekend trip together.
Petra was the first stop on the adventure, and it did not disappoint. We arrived in the evening and struggled to find a restaurant that was open before the daily Ramadan fast broke (yes, that is how far behind we are in the blog, it was Ramadan!). In the end, we found a place where we could order and have the food served, but we could only start the meal once we heard the call to prayer and saw others in the restaurant begin as well. It was quite a magical moment when we started eating with everyone around us doing the same. In our brief stay in the Middle East, I came to truly respect the waiters and chefs who fast all day and then have to do their jobs serving patrons once the fast finally breaks. We also attended an Iftar buffet while in Amman and got to partake in sharing dates with a big group of people.
Ok, back to Petra. For those who do not know anything about this Wonder of the World, it is essentially a city carved into a mountain of rock. The interiors of the “buildings” are caverns and caves, but the amazing part is the facades carved out of the surrounding mountains. It’s a large site with various buildings and involved a long walk for the kids. Luckily they got to ride horses and donkeys at various points in the journey to rest their little legs. We made them walk up the steep parts and only ride animals on the flats, but we definitely passed lots of animals carrying tourists much larger than our girls up the rocky slopes as well. Seeing Petra was magical, and by going early in the morning on a cold day, we experienced it without a lot of other tourists.
In the afternoon, we headed to the desert and the Wadi Rum. Our rental car barely made the journey as it kept overheating, so we had to drive very slowly. We got far enough into the desert that our tour guide, who Laura’s partner had arranged, came to pick us up. Michael had to call the rental company and tell them to come pick up a broken car parked in the middle of the desert. In the end, they retrieved the car the next morning and brought us a new one for the return trip to Amman. A broken-down vehicle could have been a much worse story but Google Location pinpoints and Live Location tracking really do come in handy sometimes!
Once we arrived in the desert and had parked the car, we boarded a pickup truck which drove us to the Bedouin tents where we’d be spending the night. It was definitely “glamping” as our tent had a flush toilet and a huge panorama window. It was amazing to fall asleep in the desert under a sheepskin blanket seeing the stars from our bed. Before bed, Laura and I got to take a 4×4 truck tour of the Wadi Rum where we saw historical carvings, herds of camels and enjoyed a sage tea in a cave watching the sunset. While we enjoyed our time with our Yemeni guide, the dads watched the girls dig in the sand and rode sleds down the dunes. They also enjoyed Sage tea while they waited for the moms to return. In the evening, we enjoyed a meal cooked in a traditional Bedouin Zarb (essentially an oven underground). It was amazing how everything was cooked perfectly based on the level of the tray and the distance from the heat despite the fact that the feast had been cooking underground for hours. We dug in to the meal after a long day of walking and exploring the desert.
In the morning, we all enjoyed a sunrise ride on camels. Mike was feeling ill from something that he had eaten and he had a terrible skin infection that still hadn’t healed despite his hospital visit in Bangkok. Mike still rallied to be Izzie’s camel partner on the magical sunrise trip. We truly enjoyed every minute of these days in the desert.
Our final days in Amman were spent dealing with Mike’s skin infection (which turned out to be a staph infection), floating in the dead sea (Paige only) and attending German/English/Arabic Kindergarten (Julie only). All in all, the whirlwind six days in Amman were memorable for the amazing sites and for getting to share them with friends that we do not get to see often enough. We are truly grateful for all the efforts that Laura’s family put in to make our days so special.
Where we stayed (5 words or less):
- Laura’s House: Home with playmates, nothing better
- Hotel in Petra: Rooftop breakfast scenery – magical
- Desert Mountain Camp & Resort – Wadi Rum: Desert, Camels, Great food
By the numbers:
- Animals Rode: 3 (Donkey, Horse, Camel)
- Members of the family who got to visit the Dead Sea and Float: 1, the salty water is not great for kids and Mike’s skin infected skin was a definite no-go
- Number of cups of sage tea Isabella drank in the Wadi Rum: At least 15
- Number of times we’ve rented from Sixt Car Rental: 2 – we promise this will be the last (but we said that the last time)
Family Travel Countdown 